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ENGLISH 1010: SEMINAR IN ACADEMIC WRITINGNARRATED LIVES: MEMORY, IDENTITY, AND REPRESENTATION
Instructor xxx Office xxxOffice Hours xxx or by appointmentEmail [email protected]
* I reserve the right to make changes to this syllabus, as the need arises.
OVERVIEWIn this seminar, we use writing as a way to engage in academic inquiry. That is, this course foregrounds your making use of texts to contribute to and intervene in ongoing critical conversations. This will be a challenging, writing-intensive course and will require hard work. Over the semester, you will develop sustained writing projects—critical writing that fosters discussion, challenges thinking, and proposes new knowledge. As a student with specific intellectual interests and curiosities, you are in large part responsible for the direction of the discussion and writing. You will also be interacting with your peers in a deeply engaged way, since writing is in part a social act. Ultimately, you will work through the texts we read in divergent ways, developing your thinking through the exploratory and recursive nature of writing. Because writing is not a practice that can be severed from purposeful exchange, your writing projects here will be grounded in a semester-long inquiry of a fairly specific topic. But the course is designed, above all, to provide you with opportunities for practicing and reflecting on your work as an academic writer.
COURSE INQUIRYIn this course we will take a critical approach to identity—and how it is formed by, or for, us. We may discover that unlike what billboards, ads, and social media sites constantly tell us, identity is not created instantaneously, nor is there such a thing as a “stable” identity. Identity is always changing and always dependent on our networks of influence, our context in culture and history, and our seeing of others. Likewise, what we think we know of others is always mediated by cultural narratives and by our own constructions. In this course, using texts that force us to consider and reconsider our ideas about memory, self-creation, relationships, communities, and identities, we will think and write about how we come to be “who we are.” And we will think particularly about the ways texts—journals, memoirs, photographs, paintings, essays, and so on—mitigate, inform, or resist relationships of
power and identification. And, in producing our own texts, we will explore writing as a means for deepening our understandings of these relationships.
COURSE OUTCOMES By the conclusion of this course, you should be able to:
See yourself as a writer and as someone who can use language to examine, develop, and communicate ideas.
Discover, inhabit, and use the ideas of others (without, of course, plagiarizing those ideas). Writing is inseparable from careful reading, and we will pay very close attention to how our reading of others’ texts helps us to develop and extend our own thinking.
Plan your writing as an act of communication to an anticipated reading audience. Writing is a social act, and your writing emerges in a context of others’ reading and writing.
Practice writing as an act of inquiry and discovery. I want to break down the barrier you may see between personal and academic writing. All academic writing reflects the interests and perspective of the writer.
Reflect on and practice various writing processes (including drafting and revision).
Demonstrate basic competency with Information Literacy as defined by the university’s general education guidelines.
TEXTSBartholomae, David and Anthony Petrosky, eds. Ways of Reading. 10th ed.
New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. Print. Required.Hacker, Diana, and Nancy Sommers. A Pocket Style Manual. 7th (or 6th) ed.
New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. Print. Recommended.
COURSE COMPONENTSEngagementThis is a seminar rather than a lecture course. Therefore, the success of this class depends on you as well as on me. Thoughtful discourse is an essential part of this class, and you will frequently work in groups of various sizes, which means you will need to be considerate of and attentive to others. It is your responsibility to keep up with the reading, to contribute to class conversation in the form of analytical comments or questions, and to attend class regularly and on time. See attendance policy below.
ReadingAlthough ENGL 1010 is described as a writing course, the writing you do here has a very close relationship to reading. Many of these texts are multi-layered and complex. You will need to read carefully, reread often, and take careful notes. Come to class prepared to share your thoughts about it as
well as your questions. Try not to be discouraged; the reading is supposed to be challenging.
WritingYou will write four major essays (totaling 25–30 pages) in this course. In order to accomplish this, you will be doing ample writing along the way, including in-class writing, homework assignments, and drafts of these major papers. Only the final papers will be assigned a grade, but all of your written work will contribute to your final grade in the course.
RevisionEach major writing project will go through a drafting process in which you shape your ideas and experiment with ways to best communicate this work. I expect you to put significant time and effort into the revision process, and I expect projects to shift, change, and develop as you revise. While many come into First-Year Writing as capable writers, each of us has plenty of room to improve. Your grades will depend not only on how well you express yourself but also on how you handle the revision process.
Conferences and Peer ReviewConferences and peer review are integral to the goals of this course. Through the drafting process of each major essay, we will use small group or individual conferences during, in addition to, or in place of regular class meetings. The quality of your involvement in these processes is a crucial factor in your engagement, and thus final grade, in this course.
Information LiteracyInformation Literacy is one of the key learning goals of our course. While all assignments will provide opportunities for developing Information Literacy skills, we will have at least one assignment that will be built with this specific purpose in mind. Mid-semester, our class will visit the Homer Babbidge Library for a hands-on InfoLit session with guidance from one of the librarians. This will be the first step in your process toward research for your InfoLit assignment. What you learn through this assignment will lay the foundation for scholarly work throughout the duration of your college career. Expect to push yourself out of your comfort zone and start searching and working with information from new kinds of sources and in new ways.Reflective ComponentGood writing and critical thought arise out of reflection, and in this course we will take multiple opportunities to reflect. For each major essay, you will write a brief “process note” in which you will describe and reflect on the process by which you wrote the essay.
HuskyCTHuskyCT is UConn’s online platform for communication and the distribution of class materials. This class will make use of HuskyCT for sharing all types of writing and collaborating with each other. Please ask if you have any questions about how to use HuskyCT or any difficulty navigating its tools.
Grading and EvaluationThere are two components of your final grade for this course.
Engagement (25%) One quarter of your final grade will be determined by your meeting of the class obligations regarding daily engagement, participation, and ongoing contribution to the work of the course. This work includes short writing assignments, in-class writing, writing group feedback, group and class-wide conversation, and, of course, timely and complete submission of all major drafts.
Essays (75%) Each of your four final essays will be assigned a grade according to the criteria described on the assignment prompt. The 75% of your final grade that is determined by your essays will reflect your performance in these essays. Nonetheless, this is a course that values risk, experiment, and the development that comes with practice and experience. Therefore, your final grade for this component will not be based on an average of your grades over the semester. Rather, it will reflect the level your writing has achieved by the end of the course. What this means is that early assignments, although graded, will not bear the same weight as later assignments. Indeed, your final two essays will provide the most compelling evidence of the level you have achieved. Please note: you cannot pass ENGL 1010 without submitting all four major essays. A “B” in this course is readily attainable. A “B” means high quality work that meets the expectations of the assignments and fulfills course requirements. An “A” means consistently excellent work that has a discernible impact on our ongoing exploration of these questions and topics.I will make every effort to provide feedback and grades in a timely manner. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me at any point in the semester if you have any questions about your grade.
Grading Component
Percentage
Engagement 25%Four Major Essays 75%
100%
FINE PRINT POLICIESDisabilitiesThe First-Year Writing program is committed to making educational opportunities available to all students. If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact your course work, please contact the Center for Students with Disabilities (Wilbur Cross 2013, 860-486-2020). They will determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate and provide me with a letter describing those accommodations. All information and documentation is confidential. Please speak with me if you have any concerns.
The Writing CenterThe Writing Center employs tutors who can work with students with their papers at any stage of the writing process—from brainstorming to polishing the final drafts to helping with specific difficulties you may have. This service is free, and I highly recommend it. You can sign up for an appointment on the WC website (http://writingcenter.uconn.edu).
Ethical ScholarshipWhile it is central to the writing we will be doing to study and make use of the ideas and texts of others, this must be done in an ethical and appropriate way. I ask you to review and abide by the University’s code on academic misconduct (plagiarism and misuse of sources), which will be distributed in class and can also be found on the UConn website; you will be held responsible for understanding these materials. Plagiarizing the work of others—passing off someone else’s work as your own—is a very serious offense, and anyone found plagiarizing will fail the essay or the course. Please let me know if you have questions about what constitutes appropriate use and citation of other people’s work.
Multilingual Scholarship This classroom is a multilingual space, and we speak and write across languages. Although “standard American English” is the lingua franca of our class discussions, all students have the right to their own language. I encourage you to speak to me about any concerns you have with language use (reading, speaking, and/or writing) in this course, and I encourage you to be respectful of your colleagues in this multilingual space.
Attendance, TardinessClass attendance is important and affects your engagement grade. You are responsible for work missed as a result of an absence. Excessive or habitual lateness will be counted as absences. Allowances will be made for religious observances with advanced notice.
Late Papers
It is crucial that you turn assignments in on time. Failing to do so will damage your grade and limit your ability to participate in class. All formal and informal assignments must be ready to turn in at the beginning of the class they are due and/or uploaded to HuskyCT by and no later than the stated deadline. If you have a serious need for an extension, you must contact me and receive approval at least 48 hours before the due date. There are no retroactive extensions. In the event of a crisis, contact me as soon as possible, and we will work out a solution.
Digital and Paper Copies
Phones, Tablets, and Other ElectronicsPlease do not use electronic devices in class unless they are in the service of your note taking or in-class writing. Let’s do our best to speak directly to one another and support this collegial environment.
Mutual RespectThroughout the semester, we may read texts that introduce complex, diverse, and even controversial subjects. I want this class to be a space in which we all feel safe and comfortable to share our thoughts, ideas, and opinions. I want each of you to remember at all times that your thoughts and ideas are important and valuable. You are writers and scholars. One of the goals of a university is to challenge us to apply pressure about what we know (and all that we don’t know). I will never ask you to change your mind, but I will expect it will remain open in this course. That being said, I will not tolerate disrespectful or inappropriate comments in this classroom, and those students found to be making such remarks will be asked to leave immediately and will be counted absent for that class session.
PROVISIONAL COURSE SCHEDULE (MONDAY/WEDNESDAY)
Date Work Due In-Class Work
Monday, Aug. 31 Introduction and syllabus review; First-day writing sample
Wednesday, Sept. 2 Reading: Bartholomae and Petrosky, “Introduction: Ways of Reading” (Ways of Reading 1-18)
Introductions continued;Reading discussion;Conversation on academic writing; Introduce Mini-Assignment #1
Monday, Sept. 7 ~ Labor Day, no class ~
Wednesday, Sept. 9 Reading: Joshua Foer, “The End of Remembering” (160-175)Writing: Mini-Assignment #1
Introduce Assignment #1;Coming to Terms with Foer
Monday, Sept. 14* Note that this is the last day to add/drop via PeopleSoft
Reading: Alison Bechdel, “The Ordinary Devoted Mother” (72-111)
Share ideas from writing;Work with Bechdel;Plagiarism talk
Wednesday, Sept. 16
Monday, Sept. 21 Writing: Draft of Essay #1 (bring two copies)
Sample paper review;Peer review of drafts
Wednesday, Sept. 23 Writing: Final Draft of Essay #1 (due on Husky CT by Friday night)
Draft workshop;Process note;Introduce Assignment #2;Introduce Mini-Assignment #2
Monday, Sept. 28 Reading: Edward Said, “States” – online edition [Use electronic classroom or photocopies as needed.]
Coming to Terms with Said
Wednesday, Sept. 30 Writing: Mini-Assignment #2 Present Mini-Assignment #2 to peers;Using images in writing
Monday, Oct. 5 Writing: First Draft of Essay #2 (due on HuskyCT by Monday night)
Project presentations; Sample writing group feedbackOR Writing Group conferences
Date Work Due In-Class Work
Wednesday, Oct. 7* Please note that DFUN grades are due Friday, Oct. 9
Send feedback to group partners;Prepare conference materials
Writing Group conferences (room TBA)
Monday, Oct. 12 Writing: (Revised) Abstract of Essay #2
Wednesday, Oct. 14 Writing: Final Draft of Essay #2(due on HuskyCT by Friday night)
Process note;Introduce Assignment #3
Monday, Oct. 19 Reading: primary text for Assignment #3 and short companion piece of instructor’s choice
Information Literacy workshop (Undergraduate Research Classroom, Homer Babbidge Library)
Wednesday, Oct. 21 Reading: primary text for Assignment #3, part two
Possible second day of Information Literacy; Mid-semester evaluation
Monday, Oct. 26
Wednesday, Oct. 28 Writing: First Draft of Essay #3 (due on HuskyCT by Friday night)
Monday, Nov. 2 * Please know that today is the last day to add/drop a course
Individual or writing group conferences
Wednesday, Nov. 4 Individual or writing group conferences
Monday, Nov. 9
Wednesday, Nov. 11 Writing: Final Draft of Essay #3(due on HuskyCT by Friday night)
Process note;Introduce Assignment #4
Monday, Nov. 16
Wednesday, Nov. 18
Monday, Nov. 23 ~THANKSGIVING BREAK~
Wednesday, Nov. 25 ~THANKSGIVING BREAK~
Date Work Due In-Class Work
Monday, Nov. 30 Writing: First Draft of Essay #4 (bring two copies)
Peer review
Wednesday, Dec. 2
Monday, Dec. 7 Course evaluations
Wednesday, Dec. 9 Writing: Final Draft of Essay #4 (due on HuskyCT by Friday night)
Process note
Monday, Dec. 14 ~FINALS~
Wednesday, Dec. 16 ~FINALS~
PROVISIONAL COURSE SCHEDULE (TUESDAY/THURSDAY)
Date Work Due In-Class Work
Tuesday, Sept. 1 Introduction and syllabus review; First-day writing sample
Thursday, Sept. 3 Reading: Bartholomae and Petrosky, “Introduction: Ways of Reading” (Ways of Reading 1-18)
Introductions continued;Reading discussion;Conversation on academic writing; Introduce Mini-Assignment #1
Tuesday, Sept. 8 Reading: Joshua Foer, “The End of Remembering” (160-175)Writing: Mini-Assignment #1
Introduce Assignment #1;Coming to Terms with Foer;Plagiarism talk
Thursday, Sept. 10* Note that the last day to add/drop via Peoplesoft is Monday, Sept. 14
Reading: Alison Bechdel, “The Ordinary Devoted Mother” (72-111)
Share ideas from writing;Work with Bechdel
Tuesday, Sept. 15
Thursday, Sept. 17 Writing: Draft of Essay #1 (bring two copies)
Sample paper review;Peer review of drafts
Tuesday, Sept. 22 Draft workshop
Thursday, Sept. 24 Writing: Final Draft of Essay #1 (due on Husky CT by Saturday night)
Process note;Introduce Assignment #2;Introduce Mini-Assignment #2
Tuesday, Sept. 29 Reading: Edward Said, “States” – online edition [Use electronic classroom or photocopies as needed.]
Coming to Terms with Said
Thursday, Oct. 1 Writing: Mini-Assignment #2 Present Mini-Assignment #2 to peers;Using images in writing
Tuesday, Oct. 6 Writing: First Draft of Essay #2 (due on HuskyCT by Tuesday night)
Project presentations; Sample writing group feedback
Date Work Due In-Class Work
Thursday, Oct. 8* Please note that DFUN grades are due Friday, Oct. 9
Send feedback to group partners;Prepare conference materials
Writing Group conferences (room TBA)
Tuesday, Oct. 13 Writing: (Revised) Abstract of Essay #2
Thursday, Oct. 15 Writing: Final Draft of Essay #2(due on HuskyCT by Saturday night)
Process note;Introduce Assignment #3
Tuesday, Oct. 20 Reading: primary text for Assignment #3 and short companion piece of instructor’s choice
Information Literacy workshop (Undergraduate Research Classroom, Homer Babbidge Library)
Thursday, Oct. 22 Reading: primary text for Assignment #3, part two
Possible second day of Information Literacy; Mid-semester evaluation
Tuesday, Oct. 27
Thursday, Oct. 29* Please know that the last day to add/drop a course is Monday, Nov. 2
Writing: First Draft of Essay #3 (due on HuskyCT by Saturday night)
Tuesday, Nov. 3 Individual or writing group conferences
Thursday, Nov. 5 Individual or writing group conferences
Tuesday, Nov. 10
Thursday, Nov. 12 Writing: Final Draft of Essay #3(due on HuskyCT by Saturday night)
Process note;Introduce Assignment #4
Tuesday, Nov. 17
Thursday, Nov. 19
Tuesday, Nov. 24 ~THANKSGIVING BREAK~
Thursday, Nov. 26 ~THANKSGIVING BREAK~
Tuesday, Dec. 1 Writing: First Draft of Essay #4 (bring two copies)
Peer review
Date Work Due In-Class Work
Thursday, Dec. 3
Tuesday, Dec. 8 Course evaluations
Thursday, Dec. 10 Writing: Final Draft of Essay #4 (due on HuskyCT by Friday night)
Process note
Tuesday, December 15 ~FINALS~
Thursday, December 17 ~FINALS~
BRIEF ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS
ASSIGNMENT #1: THE NARRATED SELFTexts Foer, Joshua, “The End of Remembering.” pp. 160-175. Bechdel, Alison, “The Ordinary Devoted Mother.” pp. 72-108. In this essay, students will work with Foer and Bechdel in order to come to terms with the issues these texts address surrounding memory and self-creation, the limits of the self, and our relationships with others. They will be asking why and how these texts navigate issues of one’s self-narration, why have these authors made the textual choices they have made, and what the implications are of those choices for our reading and writing—and self-creation. Students will explore in specific, precise ways how identity is negotiated through the self-narration of memoir, essaying, and academic writing.
ASSIGNMENT #2: NARRATING OTHERS Texts Said, Edward, “States” (online resource). A media or social media text of student’s choice.This project provides an opportunity for students to consider the ways images and texts narrate the lives of others and confer or deny legitimacy to those others. Working with Said’s “States” and a text of their choice from media or social media sources (and incorporating Bechdel and Foer as desired), students will explore in specific, precise ways how identity is negotiated in those texts—and particularly the identity of other selves, communities, and cultures.
[SUGGESTED] ASSIGNMENT #3: VOICES FROM THE CONTACT ZONETexts Pratt, Mary Louise, “Arts of the Contact Zone.” pp. 317-337. A text of student’s choice. Two peer-reviewed secondary sources of student’s choice.This assignment asks students to choose a text which they see as operating within a “contact zone” and examine the implications of its engagement with speakers from across strata of power. Students will use Pratt’s critical vocabulary to ask about their chosen text questions, such as: who “created” this text, and for whom? How is the author adapting the language of his/her audience? Is he/she expressing resistance to the dominance of his/her audience? In what ways does this text make an argument for the legitimacy or belonging of its subjects? Students’ essays will ultimately make an
argument about the ways specific texts narrate or resist relationships of power within contact zones.
[SUGGESTED] ASSIGNMENT #4: WORD.Texts Wallace, David Foster, “Authority and American Usage.” pp. 386-415. Various dictionaries (OED, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage,
Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, UrbanDictionary.com). Contextual research from cultural, news or historical sources.
This assignment invites students to return to their earlier work with Foer, Bechdel, and Said and their thinking about how textual and visual representations reflect and negotiate the way we see ourselves and others, by considering the fraught power of individual words and the ways they complicate our constructions of knowledge and lives. Following David Foster Wallace’s claim that language is always political, students will choose a term and explore its cultural, historical, and/or social definitions through contextual research. By assembling several definitions of their chosen words, they will bring to light tensions in the word’s field of meaning, produced by semantic negotiation among various groups.
English 1010-xxxMini-Assignment #1Instructor xxx
Coming to Terms For this response paper assignment, please do the following things:
1. Locate a passage (not longer than 2–3 sentences) in Joshua Foer’s “The End of Remembering” that you found particularly interesting, engaging, difficult, or problematic.
2. Type out your chosen passage.3. Annotate the passage (i.e., mark and define unfamiliar words, mark
aspects of the text that stood out to you and make notes on why these parts of the passage caught your attention).
4. In response to your reading of Foer, write one page considering some of the following questions (but, of course, you don’t have to address all of these):
What formulations were new to you? What words or seeming contradictions were particularly difficult
for you? How does the passage you’ve picked out work in aid of Foer’s
larger project (questions of memory, identity, and the self)? What is he bringing in from external sources, and how does he
make of those other voices, texts, and facts? How do those voices, texts, and facts further his thinking about
memory?5. Bring a hard copy of this assignment to class. We’ll be using it in
class to generate discussion (so, be prepared to discuss your work), and then you’ll be handing it in to me at the end of class.
Length: About 1 page (300 words), double-spaced. Times New Roman font. 1-inch margins.Due: Before class, 9/8 or 9/9
English 1010-xxxEssay #1: The Narrated SelfInstructor xxx
Texts Foer, “The End of Remembering.” pp. 160-175. Bechdel, “The Ordinary Devoted Mother.” pp. 72-108.
GoalsBy working closely with the textual details and larger projects of Foer and Bechdel, you will make a sustained argument grounded in your deliberate renderings of these texts.
The Narrated SelfIn this essay, you will place Joshua Foer’s “The End of Remembering” in conversation with Alison Bechdel’s “The Ordinary Mother” in order to make a claim about the issues they address surrounding memory and self-creation, the limits of the self, and our relationships with others. In other words, you will be asking why and how these texts navigate issues of one’s self-narration. Why have these authors made the textual choices they have made, and what are the implications of those choices for our reading and writing—and self-creation? Consider building upon the thinking you did for Mini-Assignment #1. How might these texts propose different ways in which the self is created through memory, and what do you see as the limits or overlappings of the two propositions? Taking your bearings from what you have found in Bechdel and Foer, put forward your own argument about the role of memory and representation in identity formation.
EvaluationI will evaluate essays by looking at their specific and sustained arguments about the limits and workings of the self through memory and text. Successful essays will carefully render specific textual passages and details working to extend and support the claims you make. As such, your project should be built around three primary, related contributions:
your specific observations about Foer’s and Bechdel’s texts the implications of those observations and an explicit articulation of why all of this matters to your readers.
Don’t be afraid to take some risks in this first major assignment. For your work to matter to readers, you will need to consider how your work challenges or interrupts obvious patterns of thought.
Length: 6-7 pages (1,800-2,100 words), double-spaced. Times New Roman font. 1-inch margins.
Due dates:
Rough draft (5+ pages) due 9/17 or 9/21Final draft (6–7 pages) due 9/25 or 9/26
English 1010-xxxMini-Assignment #2Instructor xxx
Exile is a series of portraits without names, without contexts. Images that are largely unexplained, nameless, mute.— Edward Said, “States”
Image and TextFirst, find an image from a traditional media or social media representation of a recent event that interests, startles, surprises, or concerns you. Plan to bring it to class to share and discuss. Second, write a brief critique that (1) describes what is represented in the image, and (2) explains how the image constructs or alters the textual “news” narrative of its source. That is, consider what is happening in the frame, why the photographer may have made the choices they did when taking the photo, and in what ways the image shifts your understanding of what is reported in the text itself.Be sure to select an image (and write a critique) that you will be able to incorporate into your next major essay assignment.
Length: About 2 pages (600 words), double-spaced. Times New Roman font. 1-inch margins.
Due: Before class, 9/31 or 10/1
English 1010-xxx Essay #2: Narrating OthersInstructor xxx
Texts Said, “States” (online resource). A media or social media text of your choice.
GoalsBy closely engaging with one in-class text and an additional text of your choosing, you will develop an essay that advances a claim about how and why textual and visual representations of the world offer or deny legitimacy. This project will be built on sustained examination of textual and visual evidence.
Option 1: Begin by looking at a specific visual or textual representation of people in the news, and consider the ways that representation offers, denies, or constructs conditions of legitimacy for them as individuals, communities, or states. Who gets to be a legitimate member of the community, how do we know this, and why? How and why is legitimacy, statehood, or inclusion denied? Use Said’s essay as a lens to develop a specific argument about the process of legitimization at work in the text that you have chosen. Explore one or more of his pairs of terms—presence and absence, mobility and insecurity, dislocation and location, statelessness and exile—as a way of considering what is lost and what is gained in our textual representations of one another. Option 2: The medium of each text we’ve considered in class is different—one employs photographs, while another involves sequenced panels, while yet another uses only text—but all three texts represent the self and others in specific ways. How does the question of legitimacy and others change when the form of representation changes? Consider how the framing of text with images affects our perception of legitimacy and identity. Why and how does Said use photographs in his essay, and what is lost and what is gained through those choices? What formal or generic choices does your selected outside text make, and what are the implications of those choices on the way legitimacy is communicated or represented?
EvaluationI will evaluate essays by considering the success of your sustained engagement with textual and visual evidence and how this work builds toward and develops your specific argument about the ways representations mediate our understanding of others. Successful projects will be built around three primary contributions:
your specific observations about Said’s essay and your other text the implications of those observations as regards how we read your
selected text and what it communicates to us and an explicit articulation of what this means in terms to your
readers’ understanding of how visual and textual representations narrate what we know or imagine of others’ identities.
Length: 6-7 pages (1,800-2,100 words), double-spaced.
Due datesRough draft (5+ pages) due 10/5 or 10/6Final draft (6–7 pages) due 10/16 or 10/17
English 1010-xxx [Suggested] Essay #3: Voices from the Contact ZoneInstructor xxx
Texts Pratt, “Arts of the Contact Zone.” pp. 315-330. One primary text from a contact zone of your choice. Two peer-reviewed secondary sources that engage in a conversation
about this contact zone.
GoalsAfter assembling a network of texts, you will represent and intervene in an ongoing conversation about language and power. Using your inquiries, the voices of others, and primary textual materials, you will contribute to a larger critical field, pushing it forward with your sustained argument.
Voices from the Contact ZoneIn her essay, Pratt seeks to reimagine spaces in which groups of unequal power come into contact, whether racial or linguistic majorities and minorities or teachers and students. For this assignment, you will choose a text which you see as operating within a “contact zone” and examine the implications of its engagement with speakers from across strata of power. Your text could be a work of literature, music, art, film, or anything else; the one requirement is that you must be able to find secondary literature that pertains to it. Your secondary sources need not address the exact text you have chosen; for instance, if you were to write about Langston Hughes’s poem “I, Too” as a text from the contact zone, you could look for books or articles about Hughes or the Harlem Renaissance that help you address what you see in that poem.Expand our understanding of the “contact zone” by exploring how and why the text you have chosen communicates in a heterogeneous space. Undertake a close rendering of your text, and consider how Pratt’s essay helps you understand it. Pratt’s critical vocabulary—the “literate arts of the contact zone,” such as autoethnography, parody, and transculturation—may help you address the issues of representation and negotiation of power at stake in your text. Position yourself in the critical conversation about this text by engaging with two other scholars’ approaches to this text or its themes. Work with Pratt’s and the other scholars’ arguments as you develop your ideas. If these texts challenge your ideas, formulate a response to them.
EvaluationI will evaluate essays by looking at their specific and sustained arguments about the ways specific texts narrate or resist relationships of power in contact zones. Successful essays will:
carefully render specific textual passages and details working to extend and support the claims you make
situate your inquiries about relationships of power within an ongoing critical conversation by assembling a network of scholarly voices that speak to each other on your topic
and advance a claim about the way your selected text represents negotiations of power.
Length: 7–9 pages (2,100-2,700 words), double-spaced.
Due dates:Rough draft (6+ pages) due 10/30 or 10/31Final draft (7–9 pages) due 11/13 or 11/14
English 1010-xxx[Suggested] Essay #4: Word. Instructor xxx
Texts Wallace, “Authority and American Usage.” pp. 386-415. Various dictionaries (OED, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage,
Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary, UrbanDictionary.com). Contextual research from cultural, news or historical sources.
GoalsAfter assembling an archive of textual and lexical evidence, you will place various definitions of a word alongside your careful rendering of Wallace and your earlier thinking about texts and authority to represent and intervene in an ongoing conversation about words, identities, and power.
Word.In “Authority and American Usage,” David Foster Wallace’s assigned task is to review A Dictionary of Modern American Usage, yet the essay is much more an exploration of language usage, ethics, and power. All semester we have engaged in related discussions of how our relationships of power and identity are negotiated through language. This assignment invites you to slow down your reading of texts and consider the fraught power of individual words and the ways they complicate our constructions of knowledge and lives.For this essay, you will choose a term and explore its cultural, historical, and/or social definitions through contextual research. By assembling several definitions of your word, you will bring to light tensions in the word’s field of meaning, produced by semantic negotiation among various groups. Return to your earlier work with Foer, Bechdel, Said, and others to consider how our representation of the world through language reflects the way we see ourselves and others. Wallace argues that usage is always political; your project is to identify how your word is or has become political. How and why has your word come to hold different meanings—and why does it matter to our understanding of how language narrates lives?
EvaluationI will evaluate essays for their specific and sustained arguments about how tensions in the usage of words reveal and reorganize relations of power. Successful essays will:
use careful rendering and discussion of lexical evidence to formulate a claim regarding the social or linguistic significance of your project
engage with course texts to situate your inquiries about relationships of power within an ongoing critical conversation and continue discussions concerning the definition and redefinition of lives through language
make explicit to readers the consequences of your argumentative historical rendering of this word
Length: 7–9 pages (2,100-2,700 words), double-spaced.
Due dates:Rough draft (6+ pages) due 11/30 or 12/1 Final draft (7–9 pages) due 12/11